Childlike Innocence
by OkayDokey33
Summary: With a little bit of help from the Pikmin, Samus is reunited with an old friend. Will the reunion help her regain something that was once hers?


Note: I expect the way Samus's Power Suit functions in this fic to be COMPLETELY wrong compared to the original way it was supposed to be functioned.

* * *

The Pikmin were running down the aisle as fast as their little legs could take them, as they were carrying a large object towards their destination. Their pursuer: Samus Aran, the intergalactic savior, the bounty hunter, the "Adolf Hitler" of Metroids. Why was Samus chasing the cute little guys? They had apparently stolen her arm cannon.

* * *

Samus had just come back from a mission in her world, and when she finally landed her ship in the Smash Bros. Hangar, she was dead tired. She had deactivated her Power Suit, and was rubbing the back of her neck, when all of a sudden she noticed a group of thirty Pikmin was blocking the door connecting the hangar to the rest of the Smash Bros. building. She stared at them for a moment, and they stared back, and she could have sworn that one of them was humming to himself (or herself, she could never tell).

After their little staring contest, Samus looked around for Olimar, but he was nowhere to be found. She looked back at the creatures who had been staring at her. Although the majority of the group was still staring, some of them had gotten bored and were looking elsewhere, sitting down, toying with their flowers, or playing around. One was even sleeping.

Samus's patience was running out. She just wanted to go to her room and rest, but these little guys wouldn't let her. She couldn't step on the little guys; that would only cause controversy, and she wasn't in the mood for a controversy right now. Her stun gun was usually the sure fire way to get enemies out of the way without killing them, but from what she heard, the little guys were fragile, and no one, not even Olimar, knew how much they could take before kicking the bucket.

Eight minutes had passed, and Samus finally came to the realization that they weren't going to move on their own. She sighed, crouched down, and asked, "So, what brings you guys here? Isn't it a little dangerous for you guys to be in the hangar?" For a while, the Pikmin didn't respond in any way, but then, the Pikmin started moving toward Samus. Now, a crouched down Samus and a closer group of Pikmin were staring at each other. This was starting to annoy her. All she wanted to do was get some sleep! "Should I whistle or something?" she asked herself.

Then, all of a sudden, the Pikmin leapt into the air and latched onto her. The attack was so sudden that it surprised her, made her lose her balance and fall down. The Pikmin continued to climb onto her body, as if to explore her body.

Samus was starting to freak out. "Hey! What gives!?" She would have started running around the hangar, hoping to shake them off, but a good majority of the Pikmin were holding her legs down, keeping her from moving too much. The Pikmin still on her were still exploring her, when all of a sudden, one of the Pikmin on her back said something in its little high pitched voice. Was it Samus's imagination, or did that sound like a "Found it!"? Were they searching for something?

Her question was about to be answered. One of the Pikmin was on her chest and was looking at the pink symbol on her left breast. That Pikmin also said a high pitched "Found it!"

"Found what?" Samus thought frantically.

Then, she felt her body being pulled down. She yelped as the Purple Pikmin were pulling her head forward and forcing her to fall forward. She used her left hand to keep herself from hitting the ground face-first. That was apparently what the Pikmin wanted. One of them ran toward the left hand and studied it for a second, before doing a back flip and shouted, "Found it!"

"FOUND WHAT?!" Samus though wildly to herself. Then she felt a pang on her back, chest and left hand. She looked around wildly and saw that the Pikmin were attacking the pink symbols on her back, chest and hand simultaneously. She tried to shake them off, but one of the Pikmin had brought reinforcements, and their combined strength overpowered hers, and they successfully kept her down. After a minute on their full-scale attack on these particular parts of Samus's "zero suit", Samus felt a jolt come out of these particular areas. The Pikmin's attacks had caused these parts to short circuit, creating a jolt that was enveloping her whole body. The sparks grew bigger and for a moment, Samus screamed from the pain of the jolt coursing through her body.

Fortunately, the jolt only lasted for a second. After gasping for air for a couple of seconds, Samus fell down, her body weak after what it just experienced. She looked down and gasped in shock. Her Power Suit was laying in pieces on the floor!

"What just happened?" Samus asked herself. Had the Pikmin figured out how her Power Suit worked, and just now found a way to forcibly take it off AND disconnect the different parts of the suit from each other? But how? From what Olimar had told her, the Pikmin weren't smart enough to do things like this, that's why they always sought and needed a leader!

"Hmm." Samus thought. "It always took a lot of energy and concentration to keep the Power Suit on. Maybe, since I was tired and stressed, the Power Suit was easier to take apart? And maybe the pink symbols could read my brainwaves, and that was how I could control the suit with my mind! But how did they piece together the fact that the symbols on my Zero Suit and my Power Suit were connected? Heck, even I didn't know that! Do the Pikmin have some kind of intuition that we don't know about?" Samus looked at the Pikmin suspiciously, and then focused her attention back at her broken suit. "Well, that's not important now. Right now, I need to get my suit repaired." She started to collect the parts of her suit, when all of a sudden, the Pikmin struck again. A group of Pikmin picked up her arm cannon and started scurrying toward the already open air vent. Samus was too surprised to immediately follow them, but when she finally did start chasing them, they had already gotten inside the vent.

Samus was starting to get mad. "What's wrong with you guys? First you attack me, then you break my Power Suit, and now you're stealing one of its parts? What did I do to deserve this type of treatment?!" Were they trying to take it to their Onion? No, there were no nutrients in her arm cannon, so it wouldn't produce more Pikmin even if the Onion tried. Were they taking it to Olimar? That didn't make sense either. Why would Olimar tell his Pikmin to steal a part of her Power Suit? Olimar seemed like a nice enough guy, so if it is him, then what gives!?

"Agh!" Samus thought. "I came here to rest, not built up my stress levels!" She ran toward the other parts of her suit. Apparently, the other Pikmin had run off too. "So they were only after my arm cannon huh? Why take only one part of the Power Suit when you could have easily taken them all? This doesn't make any sense!"

Samus started to put the remaining parts of the Power Suit on her. She couldn't fit through the vent as she was, but maybe in ball form….

She quickly ran to the air vent and activated her ball form. It didn't work. "Dang it," she said to herself. It looks like she needed the entire suit to do that. She quickly took off what remained of her suit and, with her body free from any bulky armor, quickly ran through the halls. She'll have to settle for using her superior speed and try to corner the little guys.

* * *

Samus had been running for a while now. She regretted trying to use the Power Suit. Putting them on and off her manually had taken too much time, and despite the fact that she was faster than even the White Pikmin, the Pikmin were still pretty fast, and they had used their given time wisely. She had no idea where they were.

Just then, she heard a high pitched, "Hi!" She spun around. Right down the hallway, was a Yellow Pikmin. He wasn't carrying her arm cannon, but it was waving at her from the end of the hallway, as if it was mocking her. Her anger and annoyance had reaching their peak. She ran toward it, picked it up by its flower, and said through gritted teeth, "Where…is…my…arm cannon?!" The Pikmin didn't answer, and instead seemed to look happy. The one she was holding was a Yellow Pikmin, the type that liked to soar in the air and reach high places. It was hoping that Samus would throw it up, so it could reach even greater heights, but its happiness only made Samus more agitated, and she simply dropped it on the ground, much to its dismay. She looked around her, and saw to her left, that another Pikmin was at another end of a hallway, waving at her and then running down its hallway. Samus quickly pursued it. Every time she cornered a Pikmin, another would get her attention and she would chase it, and so on and so on. After a while, she found a lone Red Pikmin left at the end of his hallway. He ran as quickly as his little legs could take him, and she ran after him. She saw him open a door and retreat in there.

Samus smirked, "I've got you now!" She ran toward the room and gasped at what she saw. The room she had just entered was her own. The Red Pikmin that had led her there was on the ground, near her bed. On her bed was the group of Pikmin that had stolen her arm cannon and many others. Her arm cannon was on her bed at the moment… and that wasn't the only thing on her bed. They seemed to be beckoning her to come closer, and looking behind her, she could see that the other Pikmin had caught up with her and were trying to coax her forward. She slowly walked toward her bed and looked at what they were trying to show her.

It was a picture of her when she was young. She was standing alongside Grandpa Bird and Gray Voice, and she was holding up Pyonchi, her old pet. Samus slowly held the picture up and started reminiscing about the past. She would never forget Grandpa Bird and Gray Voice, and the last time she checked, she had left Pyonchi with Damara and her friends.

Then something pounced on her. When she looked behind her to see what had landed on her, she saw, to her shock, Pyonchi!

"Pyonchi! W-what are you doing here?" Pyonchi didn't seem to be listening to Samus's question, because he just stared at her, waiting for some sort of sign of affection to be thrown his way. After a while, Samus finally caved in and started petting him. She could tell by his face that he was enjoying this immensely. She couldn't help but smile. She could remember the first time she befriended Pyonchi.

* * *

"Eh, you can't fly?" Samus screamed, as she had asked Grandpa Bird to fly and get her backpack back from a space rabbit.

"That's right. We lost our wings long ago. I'm sorry." Grandpa Bird said.

"Then I guess you're just like me…." Samus said, sadly. "What'll I do? I need it back."

Grandpa Bird thought for a moment. "Hmm… perhaps he refuses to come down because he thinks that you're angry at him."

"Eh?"

"Why not make friends with him, just as you did with me earlier? Let's start by giving him a name."

"A name?" Samus though hard. "Pyonchi!"

"Piyonchi" seemed to react to this. Samus and Grandpa Bird looked at each other and laughed quietly.

* * *

Pyonchi had been by her side ever since. While she was having trouble adjusting into her new home with the Chozo, Pyonchi was always there to comfort her in a way that none of the Chozo, not even Grandpa Bird, could do. Maybe it was because Pyonchi was the last part of her original home, the only thing that could help her remember.

After petting Pyonchi's head for about a minute, Samus finally put Pyonchi down on her bed (next to the arm cannon), crossed her arms and asked, "Okay, seriously, how'd you get here?"

Pyonchi didn't answer of course. He couldn't. All he did was scratch his head with his foot while Samus continued to glare at him.

"Great," Samus thought to herself, rubbing the side her temple in exasperation, "I'm talking to a rabbit, and I'm expecting it to talk back. I must have reached an all time low."

She directed her attention at the Pikmin now, who had gathered near the door, eyeing the reunion with great interest. She crossed her arms and walked toward the group, glaring them down as they stared innocently back up. "Was this what all that was for? Just to reunite me with Pyonchi?" The Pikmin seemed to understand this, because some nodded, some celebrated their plan's success, and some walked up to each other and congratulated each other with… handshakes? Samus couldn't believe her eyes.

"By the way they're acting, you'd think they'd have made a spaceship and successfully flown it to the moon." Samus though in annoyance.

"Stop… just stop." Samus told them, using her hands to indicate that she wanted them to settle down. "Are you telling me that you went through all that trouble, just to show me that Pyonchi was here for a visit?" The Pikmin nodded. "You mean to tell me," Samus said, beginning to get really annoyed and angry, "that you disassembled my Power Suit, attacked me, and went through the air vent, just to take me to a room that I would eventually go into myself?" The Pikmin stared at her for a moment before looking at each other in confusion. Just by their mannerisms, Samus could tell that they obviously hadn't thought this plan out all the way through. Without a leader, the Pikmins' plans left a lot to be desired and were needlessly complicated.

Samus rubbed her temples again. "Honestly, you guys, now I have to stay up all night trying to fix this thing." She put her hands to her side, looked up and sighed. "And I was hoping to get some sleep too." She crossed her arms and shook her head. "You guys almost act like children." Pyonchi hopped off of Samus's bed and sat next to her feet. He was trying to get her attention. Samus sighed and picked him up. "Oh come on. It's not like I'm not glad to see you again!"

Pyonchi sniffed the air, looked at her for a moment, and then hopped out of her grasp. He then hopped toward the Pikmin and looked at them. The Pikmin looked back. For a whole minute, Pyonchi and the Pikmin just looked at each other, until finally Pyonchi lifted a Pikimin gently onto his back. The Pikmin on his back sat there for a moment, using its tiny little hands to feel around Pyonchi's back. The Pikmin slowly climbed behind Pyonchi's head and both Pyonchi and the Pikmin looked at the other Pikmin, who were staring at the spectacle in front of them in wonder. From their point of view, Pyonchi was looking at them, and their fellow Pikmin's head was directly on top of his. The Pikmin on Pyonchi's back and Pyonchi looked at each other for a moment before, finally, the Pikmin yelled what sounded like a "Huzzah!" which led to the Pikmin celebrating their fellow Pikmin's accomplishment (what it was, Samus couldn't completely understand) and rushed toward Pyonchi. Pyonchi, in return, lifted a couple more Pikmin onto his back and started hopping around the room. Pyonchi was apparently playing with them. Whether the Pikmin were playing with him too or thought that they had acquired their own version of a steed and were testing him out, Samus wasn't sure, but she assumed they were playing with him and just glued herself to the floor as her room had apparently turned into a playground (or a training ground, who knows). It would have probably looked cute and all to anyone else (Peach came to Samus's mind), but at the moment, Samus wasn't in the mood for watching others play around her room (or around her for that matter). She had gone through a lot that day, and a lot just trying to relax, and the noises around her reminded her that she still hadn't done the latter. Not to mention the fact that something bothered her.

"You'd think a species that gets eaten on a daily basis would be more cautious around other animals." Samus thought to herself. "It only took about a minute for them to trust Pyonchi. Seriously, don't they have any survival instincts whatsoever? For all they know, Pyonchi could've eaten one of them, but they just stared at him! Yeah, sure, Pyonchi might have not eaten them, but Olimar told me there were other predators that just wanted to squish the little guys on their gigantic feet! Who knew if Pyonchi wouldn't have squashed them himself! They have leaves and flowers on their heads! Pyonchi eats leaves and flowers! He really could have eaten them! And now, after a minute of not fighting each other, they all suddenly trust each other? No wonder these guys need a leader, their species would be scarce in a day!"

She looked at them again. Currently a group of Purple Pikmim were on Pyonchi's back, and their combined weight was apparently too much for the space rabbit, because no matter how hard he tried to leap off the ground, he couldn't get anywhere. The Purple Pikmin in the front seat looked at Pyonchi for a moment before pointing his finger to usher Pyonchi forward, completely oblivious to Pyonchi's predicament.

Samus just couldn't get it. They had their complete trust in Pyonchi in such a short amount of time and already they expected so much out of him. She guessed it was because the Pikmin, although intelligent in many ways, were still very simpleminded. She guessed that whenever the Pikmin found something that worked, they wouldn't question it, and just continue whatever method or using whatever thing that had worked until something bad happened.

"Honestly," Samus sighed, "these guys wouldn't last a day in my universe."

Samus felt something on her foot. She looked down. It was Pyonchi.

"Come on, what is it now?" She reached down to scratch his head, but then he hopped back.

"What's the matter?" Samus asked. Pyonchi lightly hopped toward the group of Pikmin that were standing at her door. He then turned his back at the Pikmin and then stood up on his furry little legs. It looked like he wanted her to play with them.

She raised her hands up in protest. "Sorry guys, but don't you think that I'm a little bit too old for that?"

The Pikmin tilted their heads in confusion. Sure, whenever they were with Olimar they were usually working hard in a well-organized plan, but even then Olimar still found some time to play with them, and by what he told them, he was obviously older than she was.

Pyonchi hopped toward her and nudged her a little bit, but Samus was going to hold her ground. "Pyonchi, I can't. I'm sorry, but I've had a pretty rough day, and besides, if you want to play you can find someone else to play with. And besides," she knelt down to look at him more closely, "don't Damara and her friends play with you enough?"

Pyonchi simply gave her a face.

"Is he mad at me?" Samus thought to herself. It was hard for her to tell, because if he was, she would have had no way of knowing. She had never seen Pyonchi angry before.

Apparently he was because while Samus was lost in her thoughts, Pyonchi jumped her, making her lose her balance and fall down. She lay there for a second before recovering from her shock. She grabbed the space rabbit before he could escape and tightened her grip. There was no way he was going to leap away from her now.

She brought their faces close and said firmly, "I don't have time to play with you right now!"

"Why?" asked a voice in her head.

"…What?"

"Why can't you play with them?" the voice clarified.

"Well…" Samus thought for a moment, "I have to fix my Power Suit, which could probably take me all day, and then there's the fact that I want to get some sleep…."

"But what if this is Pyonchi's only day here?" the voice asked quietly.

Samus's glare on Pyonchi softened as she heard the voice say this. What if this was Pyonchi's only day here?

"But wait!" Samus said to the voice, "Why and how is he here in the first place?"

"Does it matter?" the voice asked softly.

"Of course it matters!" Samus exclaimed (in her head). "For all we know- oh great, I'm using 'we' now- 'Pyonchi' could be some kind of spy for an enemy or something! Like maybe Ganondorf used a spell to turn Bowser into a Pyonchi to try and infiltrate us and try to get information about us! And what if this IS Bowser? If this 'Pyonchi' sleeps anywhere near me, Boswer could turn back into himself, attack me and possibly turn me into a trophy!"

"The Smash Bros. Mansion has various security systems," the voice said. "And speaking of Smash Bros., there would be other fighters and competitors that would have probably noticed if this "Pyonchi" was a fake or not."

"Well… I guess that's true." Samus thought for a moment. "But what happens if we get attacked today? I'm going to need my Power Suit as soon as possible!"

"Can't you fight without it?"

"Well… yes, but…."

"Why won't you play with Pyonchi?" the voice interrupted.

Samus thought for a moment. "Well… I'm a little bit too old to play with Pyonchi, aren't I?"

"Since when can someone be 'too old' to play?"

"Well…."

"Pyonchi is the only thing that we have left from our original home."

"I know, but…."

"He's one of the last fragments of our past."

"I know, but…."

"Why are you running away from our past?"

Samus was taken aback by this statement. "I am not running away from it! If anything, all I've done is move on!"

"And you never want to see it again?"

"Are you crazy?! Why would I ever want to forget about Gray Voice and Grandpa Bird? They were like family to me!"

"So you want to remember Gray Voice and Grandpa Bird, but not your actual mom and dad?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"You met Pyonchi back when you still had your parents. Are you afraid that if you play with him, memories of them would resurface?"

"No! I've told you, I've moved on from that type of stuff!"

"Then playing with Pyonchi shouldn't be too difficult then, right?"

"I… I don't know!"

"…Why won't you play with him?"

For a long time, Samus didn't answer, and she half thought that the voice would start speaking again if she didn't answer quickly enough, but it remained silent. It seemed that it wanted an actual answer this time.

"I think… maybe… I've forgotten how to play."

"…What?"

Samus sighed. "The only time I've ever been a child was all the way back before my parents died, and since then, I've had to move on from that. To keep moving forward no matter what dangers lied ahead. To focus on what was happening now, rather than think about the past. I think… I've moved on too far. I think I've… lost sight about what I used to be."

"…How long have you forgotten?"

"… Maybe ever since I recovered from the destruction of my home and had to start my training to use the Power Suit."

"You couldn't have possibly forgotten everything."

"I think I have. Ever since that time…."

"But you didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the Iono Feria?"

Yes, Samus did remember them. Back when she was a teenager and still training with the Chozo, she had once seen a group of Iono Feria near a bunch of flowers. They looked so peaceful… until they took some space pirate weaponry and started firing them like there was no tomorrow. She had succeeded in disarming them and destroying the weaponry as she hoped that they would still be friends with her, but that hope was shattered when Mother Brain used her security systems to wipe them out. Whatever little innocence Samus had left had been shattered because of that.

"The world is a dark place." Samus said bitterly to the voice. "The sooner we accept that, the better off we are."

"But there can still be light in the darkness, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the first time you met Damara?"

Yes, Samus remembered that too. When she was so lost in the darkness, almost ready and willing to be consumed by it, Damara had shown her a little bit of light. She had saved her back then.

"You saw a little bit of yourself in Damara, didn't you?" the voice asked gently.

"Yes… I guess you can say that."

"And that's why you left Pyonchi to her, right? It was because you thought he would be happier being with someone who was more like the old you than the current you."

"…Yes."

"And it's because you believed that you couldn't go back, right? Back to the old you for just a second."

"Yes. And it's still true now." Samus put Pyonchi down to be with his new friends and looked at herself in a mirror. "The girl that existed long ago is gone. There're no traces of her here."

"…Pyonchi doesn't think so."

"Hmm?"

"He obviously saw at least a little bit of what you used to be still in you. He wouldn't have asked you to play if he didn't."

Samus looked down and smiled. The voice had a point.

"And I think the Pikmin feel the same way."

"How would you know?" Samus asked.

"Just a hunch, maybe?" the voice giggled.

"Wait," Samus thought, "the voice can giggle? Just what is this?"

"Even before you saw Pyonchi, the Pikmin sort of wanted to play with you, right? Remember that Yellow Pikmin that wanted you to throw him? And this may be a hunch, but it looked like they were playing follow the leader or hide and seek with you."

"Why would they want me to play with them in the first place though? I mean, playing with them with Pyonchi, I understand, but why want to play with me all by themselves?"

"I think it's because playing makes people happy."

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe they wanted to make you happy."

"Why would they want to do that? We barely know each other."

"But you've seen them around a lot of times around the Smash Bros. Mansion."

"What's your point?" This was taking too long for Samus.

"Hmmm." The voice thought for a moment (A voice thinking about what to say?). "…You've been pretty tired, right?"

"Yeah," Samus stretched a little bit. "Missions are always a pain."

"And by what you've said about yourself, you're obviously not happy. You're more sad and depressed and a little bit too serious, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe the Pikmin sensed that about you and wanted to make you feel better. You know, make you happier and more light hearted."

"How would they know that? I've already told you, we barely know each other, and it's not like I have a diary to write all my feelings down on. Besides," Samus looked at the Pikmin who were staring at her, "I don't think they can read."

"Well, they are part plant," the voice explained. "You know how people say that if you sing to plants, they grow faster? Maybe they felt the sadness in your heart and wanted to make you feel better. A type of… intuition?"

"Hmm. That's a pretty good explanation."

"I know right?" the voice giggled again. What was up with the voice giggling?

"So what? I should try playing with them or something?"

"Why not?!"

"So I'm being told to turn myself into a childish, immature and naïve child, despite the fact that I'm a grown adult?"

"No one's saying that you have to change who you are or forget everything you've learned up until now or grow backwards or something! Just have a little bit of harmless fun, that's all! Your life outside of doing mission is so dull and your personality is too serious! Have a little fun once in a while, balance it out!"

"…I don't know."

"Do you remember what you've said about yourself? Even YOU don't like what you are right now! Why don't you try to change that? In a way, it's not just about what everyone else wants, it's about what you want! To better yourself!"

"But is that possible for me? Is it possible to just forget my troubles for a little bit despite the fact that they always come back to haunt me? To never give me a break?"

"…The Pikmin do it all the time."

Samus went silent for a moment, her eyes widening. "What?"

"You said it yourself (in your head, by the way). Despite the fact that they're a species that get eaten and die on a regular basis, they still find time to be light hearted, to play around, to be curious and let their curiosity take the better of them, to laugh, to sing!"

Samus looked at the Pikmin once again and smiled. "I guess you're right."

The voice giggled again. "Maybe you can learn a thing or two from them."

Samus laughed a little. "Me, a grown woman with bird DNA and a Power Suit, take lessons from small plants that get eaten by birds and grown bugs, stomped on by frogs and shot at by mechanical spiders? What has the world come to?"

"See? That's the spirit! Crack a couple more of those!"

"Maybe I will…" Samus said, before getting serious one last time. "But tell me… who are you?"

"Hmph! That's so mean! You don't even remember the sound of your own voice!"

Samus gasped as her reflection in the mirror changed into that of what she looked like when she was three years old. The three year old version of her had a big smile on her face and she was holding Pyonchi in front of her in what looked like a bone-crushing hug. Three year old Samus began to fade away, but before she could fade completely, she waved excitedly to her older self. Samus couldn't help but smile and do a little wave back.

When the image finally disappeared completely, Samus's hand was still raised, and she looked at herself for a while before finally getting her bearings. She turned around to see that Pyonchi and the Pikmin were still there, staring at her.

Samus took a deep breath. "Okay then," she started walking towards them, "might as well start now."

When she walked towards them, the Pikmin ran towards her room's door and stood there while Pyonchi held his ground.

Samus picked up Pyonchi and pet him while she looked at the Pikmin in confusion. "What's going on?" she thought to herself. "Are they afraid of me? I guess I've been a little bit too hard on them today." She sighed, "Now what am I supposed to do?"

Then, Samus remembered Grandpa Bird's words, "Why not make friends with him, just as you did with me earlier? Let's start by giving him a name."

"Okay," Samus thought, "I guess I should point at one and give it a name then."

She pointed at a Red Pikmin in the front of the group, "Come on, I'm not going to get mad at you anymore… um… Steve."

"Steve," she scolded herself, "I went from naming a space rabbit "Pyonchi" to naming a Pikmin "Steve". I've seriously gotten rusty."

Despite the name being bland and unoriginal, it seemed to do the trick. "Steve" looked at Samus for a little bit, and then, figuring out that Samus was indicating him, quickly ran until he stopped in front of her and stared at her with those eyes of his. Slowly and awkwardly, Samus pet Steve's leaf, which Steve seemed to like, because the moment she started to stop, Steve indicated for her to keep going. When she did, she swore she heard an "Ahh" come from him.

Samus couldn't help but chuckle at this. "You know, everyone was right about you guys, you are kind of cute." She then stopped petting Steve and lightly tapped his nose. Steve seemed embarrassed by this for some reason because he started clutching his nose and covering it with his leaf.

A Yellow Pikmin stepped forward and pointed at himself. Samus looked up and asked, "What? You want me to scratch you too?" The Yellow Pikmin nodded. "Well then come over here and we'll get started." The Yellow Pikmin, however, pointed at Steve and then pointed at himself again. "Hm? Wait, you want me to name you first?" The Yellow Pikmin nodded again, with the nod being much longer and faster than the last one. "Okay, then, well… um… how about… I don't know, Rick?" The Yellow Pikmin stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. "Oh come on, you're gonna get picky about it?" The Yellow Pikmin nodded. Samus sighed. "Alright then, let's see." She thought for a moment.

"Nick?" No.

"Jacob?" No.

"Trent?" No.

Samus was about to give up. "Okay fine! Um…" she waved her hands around in confusion, "Octavious?"

The Yellow Pikmin stared at her for a moment before cheering. "Good," Samus thought, "he likes it. Finally."

Before she could pet him, however, five more Pikmin stepped forward and pointed at themselves. Samus caressed her temples. "Let me guess. You all want names too, huh?" They all nodded. Samus sighed. "Alright then, just line up in a single file line and let's give you all names." The Pikmin did just that. They lined up, got a name from Samus, and then got their heads scratched. Despite what people would have assumed, the process of naming them was actually kind of fun. They all displayed their own personality quirks in front of Samus and Pyonchi and Samus would name them based on that. Samus couldn't speak for Pyonchi, but she was actually having a little bit of fun naming them and slightly entertained by what each Pikmin had in store for her and when they were getting their names, and if the name was shared by someone famous, the Pikmin would start acting like that person, much so Samus's surprise. She had never realized that the Pikmin were THAT learned.

Once all the Pikmin were named, Samus stood up and looked down at the colorful group. "Okay, then, now that we've got that out of the way, what do you guys want to do now?"

A Yellow Pikmin (Alfredo, was it?) ran towards her and jumped up and down with his arms in the air. Samus raised an eyebrow. "You want me to throw you guys now?" The Yellow Pikmin, as well as the others, nodded and some even ran to Pyonchi and hopped on his back. Apparently the Pikmin just wanted some air time.

Samus shrugged, "Okay then, if you say so."

At first, it was just a simple throwing game, where Samus would just throw the Pikmin around her room, they'd fly through the air and do some acrobatic flips and tricks, which got a couple of laughs from Samus, land on their feet, and either wait where they landed or run back begging to be thrown again. Eventually it escalated to a catching game. Samus would throw a Pikmin somewhere and Pyonchi, with his agility and jumping prowess, would try to catch a Pikmin on his back. Eventually, that game too, would be escalated to Samus juggling the Pikmin around and Pyonchi trying to catch a Pikmin while they are falling in a rhythmic circle. The Pikmin and Pyonchi were having so much fun, that Samus couldn't help but smile and laugh too. It felt really nice to laugh again.

"Uh, Samus, what are you doing?"

Samus jumped, and turned around quickly to see that it was Olimar at the door. She had stopped juggling because of that, and the Pikmin that were currently in the air landed on the ground, got back up and looked at Samus with annoyed looks on their faces.

Samus looked down at them and winced. "Sorry," she said weakly.

Olimar stepped into Samus's room slowly with wide eyes. Did he just see what he thought he just saw? "Um… what were you doing?" he asked again.

Samus tried to regain her usual stoic disposition, but after being caught doing something she could have honestly thought she would never do, she couldn't help but fidget and look embarrassingly down. "I was…playing."

Olimar's eyes grew even larger. "Playing?"

Samus nodded. "Yeah."

"…Oh."

They both awkwardly stood where they were before Samus looked at the arm cannon on her bed.

Realization dawned on her. "Oh, Olimar," she said while picking up her arm cannon, "could you help me repair my Power Suit? If it's too complicated then I'll ask Fox's crew and ROB to help out too."

Olimar looked at the condition of her Power Suit and his eyes grew again. "What happened to it?" he asked in disbelief.

Samus fidgeted again. "Um… the Pikmin did this to it."

Olimar let out a very animated sigh. "Oh, what am I going do with these guys?"

"It's not that big a deal! Really!" Samus raised her arms to reassure him. "They just did it to reunite me with an old friend of mine." She indicated Pyonchi.

Olimar scratched his helmet. "Ah, so that's it."

It was Samus's turn for her eyes to grow larger. "Wait, what's it?"

Olimar turned to Samus. "Well, you see, someone named Damara called in through a video phone and said that Pyonchi wasn't as jumpy as he was before and thought that maybe reuniting him with his old friend would help. Gotta admit though, we were all shocked when she said that YOU were Pyonchi's old owner."

Samus scratched the back of her head in slight embarrassment. "Yeah, it's a long story."

Olimar nodded in understanding. "Well, we told her that although you weren't here at the moment, you would eventually be coming here today and so she sent Pyonchi to stay here for a few days." He bowed his head. "I'm sorry if my Pikmin caused any trouble in reuniting you two."

Samus raised her hands in protest. "Don't worry about it! I've already told you, I'm fine with it!"

Olimar looked at the arm cannon in Samus's hands. "Are all the parts in big chunks like that?" Samus nodded. "Good, your Power Suit is a very advanced piece of technology, but if the damage is minimal then it'll be easier to repair." He took the arm cannon from her and started walking out the door, before he stopped, turned around and said, "Come on little guys, leave Samus and her friend alone."

"Actually," Samus said, "is it okay if they stay?" After Olimar gave her a suspicious look, she added quickly, "Only for a little while."

"O-Okay." Olimar answered. Where was she going with this?

Samus fidgeted for a little bit and asked shyly, "So… have you ever played with the Pikmin before?"

Olimar turned to face her. "Where are you going with this?"

Samus put her hands on her hips and gave him her no-nonsense look. It was if she was saying telepathically, "Just answer the question."

Olimar's eyes grew wide again. He knew as much as anyone that you shouldn't get on Samus's bad side. "Uh… yeah, I've played with them once and a while. I once created a choir out of some of them." Olimar looked up, his eyes shining from the fond memory. "Red, Yellow, Blue, White and Purple singing their little hearts out!"

Samus raised an amused eyebrow. "They can sing?"

Olimar shrugged. "Apparently."

Samus turned around to the Pikmin. "Okay guys. Let's see if we can make performers out of you."

"Wait," Olimar asked wide eyed, "what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to help you fix my Power Suit… after I have a little bit of fun first." Samus said, turning around to face Olimar with a small smile. "Apparently I can't live with myself if I don't."


End file.
